During the weekend reports from French newspaper L’Equipe linked Arsenal with a move for both Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin and Lyon playmaker Clement Grenier. It is no surprise to see Arsenal linked with young talented French players. It has been that way since Arsene Wenger took charge at the North-London club, but a move for the Lyon player would be a surprise, especially after reports came out last week that Wenger rebuffed an apparent buy-back clause for Barcelona’s Cesc Fabregas.

Grenier has enjoyed two good seasons at Lyon since breaking through as a 20-year-old from Les Gones' excellent youth academy. He made his debut at 18, but it wasn’t until the 2011/12 season that he found regular game time.

Now, with his game further developed, Grenier has become a very skillful, perfectly weighted midfield playmaker. He has beautiful balance, a great eye for a pass and the ability to skip by players and create space for both him and his teammates. This will probably sound familiar to Arsenal fans.

At the same time that Grenier was breaking into the Lyon first-team, Cesc Fabregas was moving back to his boyhood club, Barcelona. Over three seasons he has played 96 league games for the Catalan club, has scored 28 goals and contributed 34 assists. Great progress considering he scored 35 goals for Arsenal in seven seasons.

With rumours linking the Spaniard with a move back to England, Arsenal fans were surprised that Wenger had decided not to take up the option, but the reasons behind saying no to Cesc are the same that should stop any move for Grenier.

(Image: David Ramos)

This season at Lyon, Coach Remi Garde favoured playing with a midfield diamond. Grenier would either play at the front or to the left, but would be one of the main attacking members of the team, with captain Maxime Gonalons and young Jordan Ferri protecting the defence.

At Arsenal, Grenier would have to compete with Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil for the central midfield positions. Not to mention Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky who can play either there or on the wider positions.

Grenier is a typical Arsenal type player, he would instantly suit the slick passing style that Wenger has made an institution at the Emirates, but for €10 million, and despite his superb ability from dead ball situations, he is not a massive upgrade on what the Gunners already have at their disposal.

Similar to the move that brought both Robert Pires and Samir Nasri to London, Grenier would need time and patience to develop in the Premier League, adapting his already excellent abilities to a more physical style without losing the guile and grace that makes him stand-out from the crowd. Chelsea’s Eden Hazard took 12 months to adapt to life in England, but Grenier isn’t quite at the level that the Lille player was before his move to Stamford Bridge.

(Image: PA)

Without regular game-time and a place in the starting line-up, it would be hard for Grenier to adapt as quickly as would be expected. The Lyon midfielder was an original part of France’s 23-man squad for the World Cup, but disaster struck for Grenier and a groin problem in the last training session in Paris flared up an old groin injury and he had to pull-out.

If Arsenal are to challenge on multiple fronts for a full season, they need reinforcements to come into the squad. There is little doubt that Grenier could become an excellent player under Wenger, but the move might not be the right decision for the player at this point in his career.

His style is perfectly suited to the Arsenal way, but it is an area in which Arsenal already have talent in abundance. Wenger has also been heavily linked with a move for fellow French international Loic Remy, and this is where the €10 million would be much better suited.

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If Wenger is serious about making Arsenal a dangerous and competitive team, he should stop stalling around paying Queen’s Park Rangers the money they want, and do what they can to seal Remy’s signature, before filling the team full of talented playmakers.

Arsenal have often been linked with Grenier’s team-mate, Yoann Gourcuff, but over the years it’s another move that has never materialised. Grenier has already surpassed him as Lyon’s most creative player, so the links to Arsenal are not surprising. However, at this time, in this time, Grenier is not the player to take this side forward.